A nurse is admitting a child with Crohn disease. Parents ask the nurse, "How is this disease different from ulcerative colitis?" Which statement should the nurse make when answering this question?

A) "With Crohn disease the inflammatory process involves the whole GI tract."
B) "There is no difference between the two diseases."
C) "The inflammation with Crohn disease is limited to the colon and rectum."
D) "Ulcerative colitis is characterized by skip lesions."

The chronic inflammatory process of Crohn disease involves any part of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus but most often affects the terminal ileum. Crohn disease involves all layers of the bowel wall in a discontinuous fashion, meaning that between areas of intact mucosa, there are areas of affected mucosa (skip lesions). The inflammation found with ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon and rectum, with the distal colon and rectum the most severely affected. Inflammation affects the mucosa and submucosa and involves continuous segments along the length of the bowel with varying degrees of ulceration, bleeding, and edema.